Here’s To 2016!

2015 was a bummer for too many reasons to mention, so I am glad to turn the page to 2016. Being an optimist by nature, I predict a much better year. I am also going to make some sports predictions- some serious, some less so.

Tonight (Close enough to 2016 for me)

Alabama and Oklahoma advance to the title game. So-so TV ratings and the fact that the MSU-Alabama game ends after the ball drops, lead to college football changing the date of the semifinals to New Year’s Day permanently.

January

I’ll take Oklahoma to win it all. That’s right, the team that lost to Texas wins the National Championship.

The Colts don’t make the playoffs, the Jets do, and we have a Super Bowl of Arizona and New England.

Yankees sign Justin Upton and trade Brett Gardner.

February

Arizona wins the Super Bowl because Bill Belichick elects to kick every time he touches the ball. When questioned after the game, Bill tells the press they don’t understand defense

March

There are a few upsets in the NCAA Tournament.

April

North Carolina cuts down the nets and wins its 7th NCAA Championship. Kennedy Meeks dominates throughout the Final Four.

Jordan Spieth wins the Masters.

The Knicks are the 8th seed in the NBA Playoffs and actually win a game in Round 1 before bowing out.

May

Rangers go down in flames to Washington in the second round of the NHL Playoffs and the rebuild begins.

June

A horse wins the triple crown for the 2nd-straight year.

Jordan Spieth wins the U.S. Open.

The Capitals win the Stanley Cup.

Golden State goes back-to-back.

July

MLB holds an All-Star Game and nobody seems to notice.

Jordan Spieth wins the British Open.

August

Tiger Woods wins the PGA Championship for his 15th, and last, major.

Mark Teixeira is ruled out for the rest of the year.

September

The NFL season starts with massive rule changes to prevent head injuries. Among them, no more extra points as touchdowns are automatically seven points unless a team goes for two.

The U.S. wins the Ryder Cup.

Serena wins the US Open and retires on the court.

October

The Cubs win the World Series. The World ends.

November (If there is a November)

Jerry Jones fires himself as GM after the Cowboys stumble to a 2-8 start.

The Giants, under new coach Jon Gruden, end November with a winning record for the first time in years.

December

The Jets wrap up the top seed in the AFC. The Giants are winners of the NFC East.

A blogger looks back at his failed predictions for 2016 and vows to do better in 2017.

Comments

As usual these are so obviously crazy! I mean, Texeria making it to August???

Just kidding, nice format, by month. I enjoyed it, don’t agree with many but hey, that is the world of predictions.

In no way does Tiger win another major. Sorry he fizzled so quickly but when you do crazy things with your body (his athletic golf swing was crazy in the day) and train as hard as he did, it will break down.

With many more misses on extra points, the NFL won’t get rid of them now. Too much more importance on them than ever before.

I think you are spot on with a few though, Serena ending it after a win at the open, golden state doubling down, the flaming out of the Knicks and Rangers, the Cowboys touch start and hiring of Gruden to name a few. I think Arizona will win the super bowl, not against BB and the Patriots sadly but against Denver. See, the NFL will “assist” the comeback of Peyton Manning during the playoffs to get his coronation back on track following the despicable accusations made against him (despite how believable they are).

You’re right, no way he makes it to August. He probably is already hurt.

I truly believe Tiger has one more in him.

As for Peyton, how are you expecting that assistance to occur? I am surprised he didn’t try the Andy Pettitte route and say he did it to get on the field faster. Then of course, he could simply be telling the truth.

Mind-boggling thought: the last time the Cubs won the World Series the Czar of all the Russias, the Emperor of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the Ottoman Sultan were all still sitting on their respective thrones.

On a serious note: I wasn’t paying attention — why did they move the college bowl games from New Year’s Day to New Year’s Eve? What were they thinking? So many people go out New Year’s Eve. I don’t see the logic in that move.

Don’t forget the Kaiser. He belongs with the other three in a world that seems much longer ago than 108 years.

So the problem with the college football playoff is the Rose Bowl has an agreement to be shown January 1st at 5pm through 2026, Since there are six bowls in the football playoff system, but only two of them host the semifinals each year, when the Rose Bowl is not a semifinal game it screws things up. (2/3’rds of the time that will be the case.)

ESPN tried to move the playoff games to today (1/2) but College Football wouldn’t let them because they wanted to see how New Year’s Eve did. It wasn’t good, viewership was down over 30% from last year. Question now is what can be done about it? I don’t see how they can move the Rose Bowl, so will they keep trying to stuff the semis down our throats on New Year’s Eve or move one semifinal to 1pm New Year’s Day and the other to 8pm around the Rose Bowl?